Filling the Void
by Velace
Summary: When Regina lost the woman she loved, she cast a curse that sent those of the Enchanted Forest to a land without magic where she adopted her son. She told him stories each night about an Evil Queen and her Black Knight, and after confessing his adoption to him, Henry came up with an idea that he hoped would bring the smile back to his mother's face.
1. Chapter 1

**Author Note: **I could make this one a multi-chapter, or I can leave it as is. Your choice.

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><p><em>Regina hummed her approval as golden hair spilled out from beneath the dark helm, cascading over the broad shoulders of her most fearsome Knight. Pink lips quirked with a smile, one so familiar and full of mischief as the woman moved toward her and her breathe quickened in anticipation.<em>

_Each morning was a prelude to these evenings, nights filled with pleasure and pain—sometimes in equal measure if the mood suited them. She smiled an indulgent smile as nimble, calloused hands worked their way down her body, discarding her outfit piece by piece until she stood bare for those hungry eyes._

_Raising a hand, she beckoned the woman to follow with the crook of her finger and backed toward the bed. Armour fell to the floor with each step as her Knight obeyed and when the back of her knees met resistance, she paused, taking her lower lip between teeth as she drank in the sight of all that beautifully defined, pale flesh on display for only her._

_Always, only for her._

_"Mine," she growled, reaching for the blonde with possessive hands and groaning into the mouth that immediately pressed to her own as her arousal multiplied and her thighs slickened with wet heat._

Regina inhaled sharply through her nose and dark eyes snapped open. As had been the case the last two decades, she was met with the stark white walls of her bedroom, trapped within a small town in Maine without her Knight to keep her company. She groaned and rolled from the bed with naught but memories from a time long ago, an ache between her legs and a mood most foul that none would escape her anger that day.

Pulling the tie of her robe tight around her waist, she made her way toward her son's room and roused him from slumber, snatching the covers from his small frame when he tried to roll over and return to sleep. She ignored his mumbled protests, throwing duvet and sheet to the floor before she marched from the room and back to her own, stripping herself bare before she ducked into the bathroom.

Fifteen minutes later and with her anger only slightly abated by the relief she'd found beneath the hot stream of her shower, she emerged back into the hall in time to hear the door to the second bathroom close and she made her way downstairs to the kitchen.

Henry was accustomed to her traditional Monday temperament and made no comment when he came down after his own shower. He mumbled his thanks as she handed him a plate of his favourite food and skulked off to the den where he would watch his cartoons for the next half an hour while she prepared herself for work.

Routine was the theme of not just the Mills Household, but the entire town of Storybrooke and all characters played their part, day in and day out. Regina was tired of it, tired of the monotony, tired of being surrounded by constant boredom as she grew to despise everyone and everything with each passing day.

When there was a knock at her door, her lips curled in a sneer and her cup slammed down on the counter, coffee spilling out over the sides to pool on the pristine marble surface. She hissed as part of it scolded her hand and her sneer deepened as she stalked through the foyer, teeth grinding as she yanked open the door and exploded on her unsuspecting victim.

"What the hell do you want?" she snapped, the greeting unlike all the ones that had come before when faced with the man standing on her doorstep.

Robin blinked at her and his expression was that of complete shock, merely serving as fuel to worsen her bad mood and before he could stutter a response, she growled low in her throat and slammed the door in his face.

"Mom?"

The sound of her son's voice dampened the heat in her veins and her shoulders slumped dejectedly. She closed her eyes, pressing her forehead against the door as she replied, "Yes, dear?"

His arms wrapped around her from behind and he rested his cheek upon her spine, bringing a faint smile to her lips for the first time that morning. "What's wrong?" he questioned quietly and she sighed, bringing a hand up from her side to cover the two that sat on her stomach.

"I'm just missing…" My Knight, her mind supplied as she finished, "… someone."

"Emma," he guessed, attempting to comfort her as his arms squeezed her waist.

"Yes," she admitted, feeling lighter with the simple utterance of her name. She turned in his embrace and cupped the back of his head, murmuring her assurances that her mood would pass as he buried his face into her stomach.

It was a lie, one they were both all too aware of but he nodded regardless. She would always mourn the loss of the woman she loved, and he would always accept her little white lies to make himself feel better as was their purpose.

* * *

><p>"Ms Mills, Deputy Hood is here to see you."<p>

Regina stared at the intercom. She knew it would come sooner or later, she simply hoped for the latter and she wasn't prepared to face him. She should have told her secretary to make up an excuse and send him away if he appeared before she entered her office.

"Too late now," she muttered under her breath, rolling her eyes as she reached out a hand. "Send him in, Victoria, and take an hour for lunch."

When her door opened, she glanced down at the forms in front of her. Robin had tried for as long as she could remember to 'woo' her, as he had once put it. She had allowed it for a time, even encouraged it but after a while she realised no one would ever compare to her Emma and she'd put a stop to it—or at least, she had attempted to.

"You want to tell me what this morning was about?" He questioned, taking the seat across from her and she looked up briefly.

Shaking her head, she picked up her pen and tapped it on the edge of the desk as she considered her options. She could tell him to leave, that it was none of his business, which she knew would send him from her office faster than anything else would. Even if Rumple had been wrong to assume her supposed _soul mate _was able to provide her an alternate happy ending, he had at least indulged her need for control and the former Outlaw feared her as much as anyone else in the town did.

In the end though, when he wasn't asking her out on dates or doing unnecessary and downright unwanted things like bringing her flowers, she considered Robin one of the few friends she had beyond those she'd known in the Enchanted Forest and turning yet another person against her didn't appeal to her as much as it had the Evil Queen.

"I was in a bad mood this morning and I unfairly took it out on you," she reasoned, hoping her expression showed at least a semblance of contrition. "I apologise and hope you can forgive me."

Robin was a sweet man, more often than not and while she may not love him and on occasion, even despised him—she adored his son, almost as much as she adored her own. Truly, all she hoped was that he believed she was sincere and waltzed himself from her office before she lost her temper again. With each passing day, it was becoming more and more difficult to hold on to her anger and should she need to release it, there were a number of townspeople she would much rather tear to pieces.

"Apology accepted." He smiled in a way that most would consider charming, but merely provided a warning to her for his next words as he leaned forward and suggested, "You could make it up to me by having lunch…"

Inwardly sighing and restraining herself from rolling her eyes again, she forced a smile of her own. "As much as I would like to join you for lunch, I have far too much paperwork to get done before the end of the day; rain check?"

"Of course," he replied and stood. "I'll let you get back to it then."

She nodded, her smile softening as relief lessened the tension in her shoulders and he turned, throwing a wave over his shoulder before the door closed behind him and she leaned back in her chair with a quiet, "Thank the Gods."

He really _was _sweet, but the man was awful at small talk and the thought of being guilted into accepting his invitation had been a passing concern, one she was glad not to have been the case.

* * *

><p>Hearing the bell above his door chime, Gold emerged from the back of the pawnshop and tilted his head curiously. He had hoped the boy would one day seek him out, but he hadn't expected it to occur quite so soon, though he was well prepared for the occasion.<p>

Moving further into the shop, he attempted as passive a smile as he were capable and announced his presence to his curious visitor as he stood before the counter, "Master Henry; to what do I owe this surprise visit?"

The boy turned and chewed his lower lip, no doubt uncertain of his decision to ask an enemy of his mother for help and Gold's smile widened at the thought. It was a well-known fact that he and the Mayor rarely saw eye to eye, a common topic of conversation among the less important residents of their sleepy little town.

"I…" Henry started only to pause with a nervous swallow before he tried again. "Mom told me recently that I was adopted," he said and Gold nodded for him to continue when it looked as though he were waiting on some form of assurance he was heard.

"She said she came to you, to help her find me and… and I wanted to know if you could tell me who my birth mother is or maybe if you could… help me find her?"

* * *

><p><em>Emma tilted her head, a soft chuckle escaping her lips as she watched the Queen try to reach the branch above her head. The brunette shot her a glare but she paid it no mind, placing her arms on the back of the bench as she leaned back and admired the way the billowy white shirt rode above an olive waist.<em>

_Her eyes drifted up to watch the purple smoke dissipate within a slim hand and she smirked upon seeing the apple that replaced it. "Cheat," she teasingly called before the brunette vanished from sight and reappeared a second later, sprawled in her lap as though she owned it._

_"We must content ourselves with the skills we possess," Regina purred silkily, capturing the hand slowly making its way up her thigh and slipping it beneath her shirt._

_"Speaking of the skills we possess," Emma grinned and lowered her head to claim dark lips, fingers moulding to a breast as the Queen moaned her approval and clutched her golden curls in her fist._

With a sigh, Emma shook the remnants of the dream from her mind and pushed up from the couch. Her back ached something fierce and her head throbbed in time to the beat of her pulse. She stretched as she moved to the kitchen, pausing with a hand on the counter as disorientation threatened to send her to the floor.

"Ugh, I need to stop drinking," she groaned to herself, retrieving a bottle of water from the refrigerator before stumbling her way down the hall to the bathroom.

Beneath the lukewarm spray of the shower, she closed her eyes and tilted her head back as she replayed her dream, recalling the feeling of absolute happiness that had overwhelmed her. She wondered who the dark-haired woman was, where her mind had conjured her from and why these images that played like fairy tales continued to plague her each night.

For as long as she could remember, the woman—the Queen had been at the forefront of her thoughts.

When strapped to the hospital bed, pushing the child from her womb that she then gave up for adoption in the hope he would have a better future than the one she could provide him, she still had thought of nothing but. Melodious laughter and crimson lips upturned with a smile so bright that her chest hurt at the mere sight of it had soothed years upon years of constant heartache, soothing the pain of a life filled to the brim with disappointment after disappointment.

Even then, as she recalled her past, the mistakes it entailed and the opportunities that passed her by, the face she had come to know as that of her own personal guardian angel lessened her melancholy with such an impish grin that Emma couldn't help but laugh out loud at the image.

The woman was beauty incarnate, a modern day Aphrodite and every day Emma prayed she would cross paths with someone like her. She knew, deep down it was wishful thinking and she dated on and off, knowing she couldn't rely on some woman from her dreams to appear out of thin air and take her back to that place; that place inside her head where she was happy, and loved beyond all hope and reason.

Stepping from the shower with a sigh and the yearning ache in her chest, Emma pulled a towel from the railing on the wall and tugged it around her body before she exited the bathroom. She moved to the door of her apartment and stared down at the mail delivered that morning, and suddenly froze as her eyes fell upon a familiar envelope.

After however many minutes had passed, she bent and snatched it from underneath the pile, almost tripping in her haste to her bedroom; an unexplainable _need _to be certain it was the exact same as the ones she had received the last two months as she rummaged through the drawer of her bedside table.

There at the bottom, she found what she was looking for and dropped the two identical envelopes on to the bed beside the recent one. Her eyes darted between them, noting the similarities but also the differences. The handwriting wasn't the same, almost looking as though it were written by a child while the previous two were pure elegance, all three using the same envelope, with an initials on the back of the third.

H.M

She frowned, unable to recall having met anyone with the initials, male or female. She sighed, removing the small note from the first letter, the words written coming to her mind before she even looked.

_All is not as it seems. _

The second contained a series of numbers—coordinates, she had deduced relatively quickly but when she had tried to find where they pointed, all she found was a long stretch of road with nothing for miles.

As the paper fluttered down to the bed, she grabbed the recent envelope and tore it open. Her brow rose on her forehead, surprised to find a letter inside, and one that seemed to confirm her earlier thought it was sent by a child as she started to read.

_Dear Emma,_

_My name is Henry Mills and I live with my Mom in a town called Storybrooke, Maine. She's the Mayor and we live in a super fancy house at 108 Mifflin Street. You probably think it's weird that I'm telling you this, but you'll understand at the end._

_Her name is Regina and she is the best Mom I could have asked for. She likes to tell me stories, about a Knight and a Queen who fall in love. It's my favourite, way better than all the fairy tales most kids know. She's the Queen. She doesn't think I know, but I do. I know she misses her Knight too, but no one knows where she is and it makes her sad thinking about her._

Feeling a pang in her chest, Emma stopped reading and rubbed at the spot, shaking her head as she continued.

_Mister Gold thinks I shouldn't tell you yet because then you might not come, but Mom tells me I shouldn't trust him and I want to meet you. I want you to meet her too. You have the same name as the Knight and even though you might not be her, you could still be friends and maybe she'd be less sad._

_My name is Henry Mills, and I'm the son you gave up for adoption ten years ago._

The letter slipped from her fingers and she swallowed the lump in her throat, catching sight of something else peeking out from the flap of the envelope. She stared at it, a weighted feeling sitting in the pit of her stomach as the words, "My son," spun round in her head.

Reaching out a shaky hand, she gingerly took that corner of something between thumb and forefinger, and pulled, instantly recognising it as a photo as she read the words on the back.

_Mom & me._

Blood rushed to her ears and her chest squeezed tight as she flipped it over. There, holding her baby boy in her hands stood the woman of her dreams, smiling that smile that threatened to tear her heart to pieces as she gasped for breath.

* * *

><p>Emma swore and slammed on the breaks, growling as she opened the door and exited the car. For an entire week, she had debated the four-hour trip from Boston to Maine and despite the mountainous pile of evidence that suggested the town of Storybrooke didn't exist; she had taken a leap of faith and made the trip nonetheless.<p>

All for naught it seemed, as the road surrounded by forest stretched as far as the eye could see and the maps she had pored over each night after work were right; there was no town here. She sighed, hand sliding up the side of her neck and into her hair where she fisted it at the roots in frustration.

"What the fuck was I thinking," she shouted, kicking the door shut before she draped her arms over the roof of the car and fell forward.

She rolled her head to the side, looking over her bicep at the road that disappeared around a bend as she congratulated herself for at least having the common sense not to give in to one of her more asinine whims by quitting her job.

The longer she stared though, the more she was convinced she _hadn't _travelled all that way for nothing. The town had to be there somewhere. _Maybe the coordinates were off_; she thought and pushed away from the car with a frown. "Or maybe my GPS is a piece of shit," she mumbled, glaring through the window at said GPS as though it was entirely the device's fault for her predicament.

Nibbling her lower lip in thought, she glanced once more at the road. _It wouldn't hurt to drive a little further_, her mind reasoned. She wasn't expected back at work until Monday, which was four days away—the woman of her dreams was worth another hour or two of aimless driving, surely.

With a decisive nod, she yanked open the door and dropped back down into the driver's seat. She started the car, pulled off the side of the road and continued forward—slamming on the breaks yet again, as her mind flooded with images and her eyes closed of their own accord.

Her eyes snapped open a moment later, and her head jerked to the side, gaze trailing the length of wooden legs and coming to rest on the bold white lettering:

Welcome to Storybrooke.

"Regina," she whispered. She remembered everything, who she was—what she was. Her eyes narrowed and she growled, "Rumplestiltskin."

* * *

><p>Regina was running late for her meeting after Henry had decided to go and get himself sick, as if she didn't have enough things to worry about. She was thankful for David Blanchard; the man was a godsend when he offered to step in for his wife and take care of him, as Mary-Margaret was unavailable due to the children less fortunate than her son believed himself to be, what with a day off from school and all.<p>

Her purse vibrated beside her and she rolled her eyes, waiting until she reached the lights before leaning over and rummaging through it for her phone. She frowned down at the text from the waitress, claiming there was someone at the diner looking for her.

Before she could respond, her phone vibrated with another text and her eyes widened as she read; _she says her name is Emma and—_she didn't finish reading it, stepping on the gas as her phone flew from her hand and dropped somewhere to the floor under the passenger seat.

The hope that bubbled inside her chest was absurd. Emma was a perfectly common name, especially in this world but as the Mercedes shot down Main Street, she couldn't stop herself from feeling the anticipation. It had been too long, far too long since she last saw the woman she loved and if there was even the slightest chance…

There was no question.

She would risk the disappointment of a lifetime but if it was her, if it was _her _Emma; then what she had done would finally be worth something—she could finally find the happiness Rumplestiltskin had promised would touch her life once more if only she did as he wanted and cast his stupid curse for him.

Her breaks screeched in protest as she stopped outside the diner and she flinched at the sound, but otherwise paid the car no mind as she threw open the door and launched herself from the vehicle. It was almost impossible to move quickly in three-inch heels, and yet she managed it somehow.

The first thing she noticed beyond the annoying tinkle of the bell above her head, was the look of surprise on everyone's face as she barged her way into the diner but the second—the second made her heart skip a beat and caused her legs to weaken at the knees.

"Emma," she whispered, almost afraid that if she spoke any louder, this would prove nothing more than one of her dreams and she would wake up, depressed and alone still.

The blonde head rose slowly from leather-clad arms folded across the counter and Regina held her breath as she took a step toward the woman, releasing an undoubtable cry of happiness as emerald eyes turned on her and Emma scrambled from the stool.

A hand reached out, barely an inch from her face before it retreated and Regina frowned. Her body practically screamed out in anguish at not being touched after so long and she shot out a hand of her own, latching on to the wrist and bringing it back her cheek.

Closing what felt like a gaping chasm of distance between them, Emma moved and cupped her other cheek in hand, thumbs stroking reverently across flesh as she questioned quietly, "You remember?"

Confusion distorted her features before it was replaced with realisation and she looked to the waitress who stood staring at them as though watching one of those idiotic rom-coms that her best friend was so fond of, and she chuckled at the thought. Emma had clearly tried to communicate with someone she thought knew her, only to find no one remembered their real identities.

She nodded with a small smile on her lips. "I do and I thought it my curse these last twenty years," she confessed, her voice low so no one besides the two of them could hear her words. "I missed you, my Knight."

Emma grinned, one hand sliding from a cheek to wrap around a neck as she pulled Regina flush against her and murmured, "And I you, my Queen," before capturing plump red lips in a heated kiss filled with desperation and longing.

The diner erupted around them; the comments hushed but numerous, punctuated with the soft gasps of surprise that made olive cheeks redden hotly. Despite her blooming embarrassment however, when she felt Emma try to break their reunion short, Regina threaded her fingers through the silken mane of golden locks and forced the blonde to stay a while longer, smiling at the content sigh she felt against her lips.

Eventually the two had to part if they didn't want to put on a particularly revealing show for the rest of the town and as her stomach rolled with arousal, Regina chose that moment to pull back. She knew they needed to talk—desperately, and she grabbed Emma by the hand, leading her from the diner where she was prevented from venturing further at a gentle tug of insistence.

"What happened?"

She shook her head, turning and pressing a kiss to pale lips. "Not here," she said with a squeeze of their hands. Emma nodded her understanding and Regina guided her over to the car, smirking as Emma approved of the choice.

"Mercedes, nice."

"You know me." Regina pushed her front against the blonde's back as she purred into her ear, "Only the very best for the Queen."

Lifting an olive hand from her hip, Emma dusted knuckles with the soft caress of lips and questioned, "Why else would I have become your most valued Knight, if not to be claimed by you?"

Regina hummed, chest warming with the comment as well as the gesture. Even after all their time apart, Emma still made her feel things no one else ever had, or ever could and it caused both desire and love to flare inside of her as she nuzzled into a neck that smelled wonderfully of vanilla and leather.

"It has been far too long," she husked, nipping pale flesh and relishing the shiver that shook the blonde's body.

"Far too long," Emma repeated her agreement, closing her eyes as she turned her head and leaned in, skirting her lips tenderly over a warm cheek.

When Regina managed to separate herself from the blonde long enough to walk around to the other side of the car, they both entered the vehicle and grinned as their doors closed in synch. Their hands instantly met over the console and Regina held tight, fearing that if she let go for even a moment, Emma would disappear from her life once more.

As soon as they reached the mansion, Regina was out of the car and she smiled as she heard the blonde follow her. She needed to get inside, to erase the potential for disaster before either David or Henry noticed the Mercedes in the driveway and came out to meet her.

Opening the door and entering the foyer, she heard laughter from the den and frowned. Henry was supposed to be up in his room, and by the sound of him, it appeared she had been misled that morning.

She sighed and moved to the entrance of the den, taking Emma's hand once again and giving a subtle shake of her head as the blonde opened her mouth. Clearing her throat, David looked up at them and smiled, standing from the couch and walking over to them.

"I thought you had a meeting?"

"Something came up," she said and side-glanced the woman beside her as David chuckled, his eyes lighting on their joined hands.

"Emma, this is David Blanchard," Regina introduced the two, biting her lip as she watched brother and sister stare at each other, one gaze welcoming while the other clouded with confusion. "Friend and occasional sitter when my son decides to feign an illness," she added, a small glare directed toward Henry who grinned at his mother from his position laid across the sofa.

A brow rose and Regina knew Emma would have questions, but she accepted David's proffered handshake with a warm smile. "It's nice to meet you," she said, releasing his hand as she glanced over his shoulder to the boy.

Inclining her head to David, Emma stepped around him and moved toward her son. Emma Swan the Bounty Hunter would have been filled with trepidation at the prospect of meeting him, but Emma Swan the Black Knight and Consort to the Evil Queen was more curious than anything else.

"Hi," he whispered and she grinned, crouching down that she was eye level with him and could speak without being overheard.

"Hey," she replied. "Who's Mister Gold?"

"He owns the pawnshop and most of the town," he answered, sitting up and shifting until he sat, feet on the couch and legs crossed. "Mom hates him."

She nodded, unsurprised. Regina tended to hate most people, at least as far as the woman she knew was concerned. "He helped you find me?"

"Yeah…" She tilted her head, knowing he had a question of his own as he appeared to be thinking it over. His eyes darted to Regina who looked deep in conversation with David before he returned his attention to her and leaned forward.

"Did—Did I do good?"

She chuckled and placed a hand on his knee, nodding as she reassured him, "You did great, little man."


	2. Chapter 2

**Author Note: **Note the rating change, and there will be more.

* * *

><p>Emma reclined against the arm of the sofa and awaited her Queen's return. Regina had disappeared upstairs with their son who had insisted on their full, undivided attention for the rest of the day, which ended once he fell asleep sprawled across their laps while trying to watch a movie. She knew that when Regina re-entered the den, she would expect an explanation for her absence and sequential arrival in Storybrooke.<p>

Throughout the day, she had noticed the hesitation prevalent in Regina's actions and the way she spoke, as though her words were no longer welcomed by her Knight who once hung on each whisper of breath, as if she no longer ached for her touch as she once had.

Her time in this world had changed Emma substantially, but with her memories intact, she knew Regina's fear would never prove a reality. Were it not for a spell of forgetting, she would have travelled to the end of time to be reunited with her Queen, she would have killed and died a thousand times over if it meant finding the woman she loved.

"I know that look."

Her tunnel vision cleared and she shook her head, focusing her gaze on the brunette. "Do you?" she questioned with genuine curiosity. Recent evidence suggested Regina had forgotten just how much she meant to her, and she wouldn't be surprised if the claim proved untrue.

Oblivious to her thoughts, Regina nodded and moved further into the room as she spoke. "It is the same look you had the night you embarrassed me by dropping to a knee…" She paused and straddled Emma's lap before she continued, "…covered in blood—during an execution—and proposed to me in front of an entire square full of peasants."

Memory vivid in her mind, Emma smirked as she nodded; acquiescing to the fact Regina at least remembered some things before she hummed, lips captured in a tender kiss. "Let's not forget the time I handed the head of King George to you on a silver platter," she added when the brunette pulled back.

"_After _you allowed my army to ransack his Kingdom," Regina deadpanned, causing Emma to chuckle just as she had that day in the throne room. She sighed. "What am I to do with you?"

"Love me," Emma answered without reservation as she grasped slim hips. "Permit me to rid you of your former teacher once and for all so that we may never be parted again."

Head rearing back in shock, Regina did something she had never in her life done before and stuttered, "M—Mister Gold?" She scowled at herself, disgusted with the quake in her voice.

Emma frowned, nostrils flaring in anger at the thought of their son being anywhere near that slimy, good for nothing imp. "That's who he is?"

"You know him?"

"Uh no…" Berating herself for getting side tracked, she mumbled, "I might have… heard of him?"

"From who?"

Emma sighed, keeping one hand on a hip to hold Regina in place as she arched from the sofa and retrieved the letter from her back pocket. "He didn't mention it and I didn't know if it was because he was too excited." She held it out for her and added, "You also hadn't gotten around to asking yet."

Regina examined the envelope warily and took it from between the blonde's fingers. "What is it?"

Shoulders rising in a shrug, Emma said, "Open it and find out." She hoped Henry wouldn't be upset with her, but there really hadn't been any time for the two of them to talk about what he'd done and she wasn't about to keep secrets from his mother, let alone her own wife.

As Regina read the letter, she wore a smile through most of it but the second it fell, Emma knew she had reached the end and braced herself for what she knew was coming. "You're his birth—" Regina cut herself off as realisation dawned and her eyes widened as she shouted, "You cheated on me?"

Emma winced and her hand flew back to a waist as she prevented Regina from climbing off of her. If she was the same woman Emma had known all those years ago, then she knew she couldn't give her time to dwell on a mistake made when she hadn't known who she was. "I wasn't me. The memories, the life I had; it wasn't mine and I didn't know who you were. I dreamed of you—of loving you, of being _happy _with you—every single night but I had no idea you were even real."

Licking the sudden dryness from her lips, she sat up and leaned in as her hands migrated from waist to cheeks, cupping Regina's face in the palm of her hands. "I felt guilty, the second I remembered what I had done and how much it would hurt you but…"

"But?" Regina spat and a low growl rumbled in her throat. "But what, Emma? What could you possibly think makes it acceptable for you to be unfaithful to me when your memories returned?"

"Henry," Emma murmured, watching as chestnut eyes softened at his name. "You raised my son, Regina—our son. If I knew, I would never have done that to you but now, I can't regret it because I gave you _him_."

With a calming breath, Regina closed her eyes and gave a small nod. For the last ten years, Henry had kept her sane. He had given her a reason to continue on with life when she had almost given up, succumbed to the weight of depression on her shoulders when she woke up one morning with a single question on her mind.

What was the point? Happiness eluded her, and when it hadn't, it had been taken from her by death, abandonment or—in Emma's case—an imp who predicted fate and twisted it to his own purpose.

But Emma was back. She was here, as warm and as beautiful as Regina remembered, and she had proven her love time and time again. Through words, through battles both big and small, Emma had shown the people of Misthaven that someone could—that someone _did _love the Evil Queen and that she deserved happiness as much as anyone else.

Feeling the tender caress of the hand at her left cheek, she kept her eyes closed and leaned into it. Emma loved her—had from the moment she stumbled across the tower of the White Castle and never in all the years the two were together had she doubted that for a second.

"I love our son," she confessed in a whisper, lips curling as Emma's response came in the form of a mouth pressing to her own with the softest kiss.

In the grand scheme of things, it made no sense for her to remain angered by a betrayal committed when _her _Emma, when the woman she loved had no control over what this world's Emma had done. Henry meant everything to her and knowing that he held a part of her Knight inside of him—she hadn't thought it possible but it only made her love them both even more.

Acknowledging that simple truth to herself, she let go of what little anger and hurt remained as she opened her eyes to adoring emerald, the expression awaiting her one of patience with a hint of apprehension. She chuckled low and pressed forward, offering understanding and forgiveness in a single kiss.

"I love you," she murmured, sliding a hand about the blonde's neck. "And if your mistakes produce something as beautiful and as thoughtful as our son… then I demand you make them more often."

"Does this mean you'll tell me what happened now?" Emma grinned and Regina nodded, indulging with another kiss before she started to tell the story of how she cast the curse.

_"You!"_

_The vehemence with which she spoke forced Snow to take a step back, eyes wide as she tried to understand. "Me?" She squeaked, stupidly pointing to herself. "Why me, what did I do?"_

_Regina rolled her eyes. "You didn't do anything, idiot." She sighed and dropped down into the plush cushion of her throne as she explained, "The heart of the one I love most isn't an option and apparently Rocinante won't do, so that leaves _you._"_

_"You love me?"_

_Releasing a loud groan that said all it needed to, she stared blankly as the White Queen moved closer and she held up a hand, tilting her wrist and extending a finger. "If you're considering hugging me, I would advise against it," she warned, the corner of her mouth twitching._

_Snow stopped inching forward. "I'll do it," she said and Regina raised her eyebrow._

_"Hug me?"_

_With a giggle, Snow shook her head. "I'll give you my heart to cast the curse," she elaborated._

_"No," Regina snapped as her face contorted with a grimace. "Despite popular belief, I am not that selfish. I have lived with heartache all my life; this time will be no different. I could never do that to you, nor David and certainly not to myself."_

_"Have you forgotten what happened last time? Where you ended up and who you became? I trust Rumplestiltskin about as far as I could throw him, but if he says your happiness awaits in this other land then you need to do it; don't let me stand in your way again, Regina."_

_"Foolish, that's what you are," Regina replied, gesturing dismissively. "I refuse to listen to any more of this, go back to your shepherd and leave me in peace."_

Snickering, Emma interrupted the tale. "You didn't honestly think that would work, did you?"

Regina shook her head, a wry grin on her lips. "She somehow manages to surprise, baffle and irritate me at the same time. Though she did leave for a while, but that was only to convince your brother into ganging up on me with her."

_"Would you just listen for a moment?"_

_Spinning on her heel with a scowl, Regina snapped, "No I will not. You and your wife are both idiots and I will not stand around listening to your inane babble and risk my own brain cells deteriorating in the process."_

_When the two stood, mouths gaping, she sniffed unapologetically and turned, marching through the halls away from the two imbeciles as their suggestion continued to flutter around in her mind as if she hadn't already dismissed it._

_She had._

_It was stupid._

_If she weren't running out of synonyms for idiotic, she would have stood there and berated them for much longer. _Honestly, _she groused inside her head. _Who in their right mind would offer their heart for a curse, and then try to make splitting the heart of their true love to sustain both of their lives sound logical?

_"Ridiculous." _

"Let me guess," Emma interrupted once more. "That's exactly what happened."

Regina sighed, head nodding against a shoulder as she admitted, "Exactly that, yes."

She pouted as Emma then chuckled, only to forgive the blonde when she placed a finger beneath her chin and tilted her head up, fitting their lips together in a kiss that would have rivalled their first—if it had been a few seconds longer.

Sighing as they parted, she said, "I realise we have a lot more to talk about…"

"But you're tired," Emma guessed, smiling as she felt another nod. By her count, Regina had yawned at least six times in the last half an hour, so it hadn't taken a genius to figure it out. "Do you want me to carry you to bed, My Queen?"

"Only if you plan on crawling in next to me," she replied, inhaling more of the blonde's scent as she closed her eyes and buried her face in the side of her neck.

"Your wish is my command."

* * *

><p><em>"I can't…"<em>

_"Yes you can," David smiled, placing his hand over the one on his chest. "We want you to be happy and you might not believe in this plan, but believe in us, Regina. No one knows the power of True Love better than you and I. You can do this—we can do this."_

_Taking a shuddered breath, Regina nodded and pushed her hand into his chest. Her fingers wrapped around his heart and for the briefest moment, she could feel the love he had for Emma, for Snow and most of all, for her. "You love me," she gasped, disbelieving even as she felt his heart pulse at the words._

_"You gave my sister _life_ and then you married her," he said with a lopsided grin, reminding her all the more of the woman she lost. "How could I not love you?"_

_"Please don't die," she whispered and his booming laughter brought a soft smile to her lips as she pulled, his heart shifting in his chest as though she were unlocking it before it emerged in the palm of her hand._

_Dropping to her knees beside the woman she once loathed with her very being, she swallowed the doubt she still held that everything would work as the two predicted and cupped the heart with both hands. She closed her eyes, focusing on what she wanted to do and ignoring the fear that bubbled in her chest of what it might do instead as she twisted her wrists._

_Staring down at the two separate pieces in wonder, she blinked as her eyes clouded with tears. Her gaze drifted from her hands to David who had fallen to the ground next to his wife, and then to Snow, remembering as she darted forward and shoved her hands into their chests._

Regina woke with a start, surrounded in warmth with a weight pressing down on her waist. She looked down her body, eyes unseeing as her mind remained blissfully unaware of her conscious state for a few short minutes.

Slowly her awareness sharpened and the weight registered as an arm as fingers flexed at her hip. Lips came next; knowledge that they were slightly parted crossing her mind as she felt the soft puffs of breath hitting the side of her neck.

She turned her head and barely restrained herself from sobbing in relief at the sight that greeted her. Part of her feared it had been nothing more than a dream, that she would once again wake filled with the same dread she had twenty years ago when she thought she'd lost everything.

Turning on to her side, she raised a hand and traced the strong line of a jaw as she marvelled at the realness of flesh beneath her fingertips. Emma was here, in her bed where she could touch to her heart's content and beyond. Revenge would be sweet, but nothing could be sweeter than the return of her Consort, her True Love, and the mother of her son.

Her hand trailed down, down a long slim neck, over a shoulder and down an arm that she remembered all too well. Many nights were spent safely ensconced within their embrace, held in a way that no other had dared since Daniel and even there, compared to her first lost love, Emma was so much more.

Fingers danced over a hip and beneath the covers that hid the lower half of her Knight from view. She smiled as a sharp intake of breath reached her ears, emerald eyes fluttering open to meet her own as a soft moan followed.

Emma reached down, pressing her palm against the hand between her legs and rocking into fingers that stroked through her folds. Heat exploded in her stomach at the look of love reflected in chestnut orbs and she surged forward, devouring lips as a whimper clawed its way up her throat and Regina filled her completely.

Regina rolled to her back and Emma followed, thighs straddling hips as one hand grabbed the back of her neck while the other continued working her toward a release that threatened to overwhelm her at any moment.

She broke the kiss, pushing on to her hands and panting for air that was immediately expelled in a long, low groan of pure bliss as a thumb found her clit and rubbed rough, needy circles until she came, arching her back with a quiet cry of her Queen's name.

"I love you," Regina murmured as Emma collapsed, hand still cupping her sex while the other skirted the length of her back and caressed her spine. "I thought I'd lost everything when I cast this curse. I split David's heart in two just like they said, but when I put each piece inside their chests nothing happened. I thought I'd killed them and the only time I have ever cried as hard as I did then, was the night you went missing without word."

Silence descended for the time it took Emma to regain her breath and when she had, she moved down so that her head rested on Regina's chest, listening to her heart as she spoke. "Rumplestiltskin came to me disguised as one of the guard, said he'd captured a man trying to sneak into the Palace."

She closed her eyes as fingers threaded within her hair and nails scratched at her scalp, the gesture familiar and calming what anger emerged at the memory. "I should have realised what was happening, but I was still upset after our fight and I wasn't thinking clearly. Everything is fuzzy after that but I remember he used something that dampened my magic, something that stopped me from being able to fight him."

"Did he say anything?"

Emma frowned, trying to remember if he had spoken to her at all after returning to his original form. She knew there was something, something about his—"Son," she said. "He mentioned a son… that he needed you to do something that would help find him."

His words from that night came back to her slowly and she lifted her head. "He needed me to remember. If I had come with the curse, I wouldn't remember you and you wouldn't be able to break it."

* * *

><p>Rumple glanced up from his ledger when the door to his shop crashed violently against the wall, eyebrow raised as Regina seethed at him from across the room. "You slimy, manipulative bastard," she spat, storming across the floor with a scowl on her face.<p>

He smirked. "And a good morning to you, dearie," he replied. Upon seeing the blonde enter over her shoulder, he inclined his head. "Miss Swan, glad to see pushing you through that portal didn't kill you."

"Always showing such concern for me, Rupert."

He winced, having gone two decades without hearing that name and he knew she'd caught it when she chuckled, smiling sweetly as she repeated things he had said to her long ago. "Your brother would never approve, she'll never love you—I'm glad you're not dead. It's all very touching, truly but I'm afraid I'm still going to have to kill you."

Having thought they were smarter than that, he tutted with a shake of his head. "If that is why you're here, then I'm afraid I'll have to disappoint you both because without me, you'll be trapped in this world forever—no kingdom, no magic, no True Love."

Regina's scowl deepened but his eyes remained fixed to the blonde whose shoulders slumped. "One of these days, I will kill you," she threatened and he smiled, not doubting her for a second.

"Perhaps," he replied, retrieving the box from beneath the counter as he added, "But today? No, today is the day you bring magic back to this charming little world."

* * *

><p>Emma ducked behind a rock, breathes coming in heavy gasps as she turned her head to the side and away from the cone of fire that appeared within inches of where she hid. Without magic, killing a dragon was far more challenging than she remembered it being.<p>

Peering down at the blade in her hand, she rolled her eyes. Against trolls, chimeras and human soldiers, David's sword made sense but to a dragon. Rumplestiltskin was fucking insane. She felt as though she were one of those matadors, waving a giant red cape in front of a bull except this would result in her being roasted alive rather than trampled to death.

"Small mercies," she muttered, pushing from the rock and immediately falling back as another burst of fire swept passed her. "… or not."

Feeling her frustration surface unhelpfully, she shook her head. No magic meant anger would only hinder her and after she promised her Queen that she would try her hardest not to die, it seemed rather counterproductive.

With a last glance to the sword, she silently hoped she wasn't about to make the stupidest mistake of her short life before she darted from cover, rolling to escape another surge of heat and coming to her feet as she launched the sword over her head.

"Ha!" she shouted, sidestepping the small ball of fire that escaped the dragon's throat before the blade pierced the scale and hide of its chest.

She covered her ears with a cringe as a shrill cry filled the air, and when the body fell to the ground, her hands dropped back to her side. She waited until the dust cleared before moving closer, eyes narrowed and searching for the blade to finish the job, eager to return to Regina and possibly punch Rumple in the face.

Twenty years in a world where she wasn't killing someone at every turn, she realised she had grown accustomed to not being splattered with blood regularly and while it brought back good memories, dragon blood was considerably more disgusting than what she was used to. It was thick—heavy and clung to her like the smell of forest to an outlaw.

Once she had the ornate egg in hand, she scowled the entire way back to the lift and as it rose to the ground floor, she was given the once over by her wife who smirked at her obvious bad mood as chestnut eyes came to rest on her own.

"This isn't funny," she stated, her words little more than a whine as she passed Regina the egg and removed her jacket, making a face as something fell from it on to the floor. "Ugh."

Clearing her throat, Regina agreed, "Of course not, dear," and pursed her lips, knowing her voice had given away the fact she sounded as though she meant the exact opposite.

"It isn't," she insisted, pouting as she gestured to the state of her clothes. "This is seriously gross and it's in my _hair_."

Erasing the space between them, Regina hooked her finger through a belt loop and tugged her forward. "Look on the bright side," she purred, pressing a soft kiss to downturned lips before she pulled back and waited.

Eyes narrowed, Emma thought for a moment. "I'm closer to being able to kill Rumple?" she said, shrugging when she was met with a blank stare.

Regina rolled her eyes. "I was thinking of the two us returning home to share a shower, but if you'd rather take comfort elsewhere…"

"Less talking," Emma interrupted, grabbing her by the hips and ignoring the protests about her filthy hands that immediately followed as she turned and steered Regina toward the exit. "More going home and getting naked."


	3. Chapter 3

**Author Note: **Fair warning, next one might take a bit while I complete the plethora of half-complete chapters for my other stories. This would be easier if I learned how to grow extra hands.

* * *

><p>After giving in to Regina's assertions that an hour was more than enough time to spend in the shower, Emma was dressed and sitting at the foot of the stairs waiting for the brunette to join her. She was wondering how much longer she would have to wait when she heard the click of heels coming down the hall.<p>

Leaning her elbows on the stair above her, she tilted her head back and grinned as she took in the sight of the long, tanned legs descending. When Regina stopped, she stood with thighs positioned on either side of Emma's head and eyes travelled swiftly upwards. A growl rumbled in the blonde's chest and her mouth watered as she noticed the Queen wore a thong beneath her skirt.

"Jesus," she groaned, forehead pressing to the side of a knee as she brushed her lips over an olive toned calf. "I'd be worried you'd flash someone if that skirt wasn't so tight."

Regina chuckled as Emma stood and she dipped her head to accept the kiss the blonde offered with just a look. "And I'd be worried about starvation, dehydration, parental neglect and the collapse of my town if not for your ability to obey commands," she said as she pulled back with a smirk.

Emma grinned and shrugged, taking her hand as she turned and guided her down the last step before leading her to the foyer where she retrieved her coat and held it open. As Regina slipped it on, Emma nuzzled into her neck and murmured, "I'm still not finished, by the way."

"I suspected as much," Regina replied, hand rising above her shoulder to caress a cheek as she kissed the one opposite. "For now, however, we need to return to the imp and stop in at my office before I take you to lunch."

Resigned to having her plans spoiled, Emma sighed and stepped back. Truth be told, she'd rather extend their reunion and spend the entire day inside, worshipping her Queen until it was time to retrieve Henry from school. Alas, she had been 'whipped' long before she came to this world and discovered the term, and no matter how much time had passed, she would always fall back on being the obedient Knight.

"Lead the way, Your Majesty."

"Don't pout," Regina chided, humour in her voice as she entwined their fingers and tugged the blonde from the house over to the car. "There will be plenty of time for fun _after _we've acted the responsible adults we're meant to be."

"Ugh," Emma grumbled, dropping into the passenger seat and smiling as her petulance drew a throaty chuckle. She never could help herself.

* * *

><p>Returning the egg to Rumple proved as uneventful as their stop in at the Mayor's office. He refused to tell them any more than he thought they needed to know, merely claiming, "You'll see," when asked how he planned to bring magic to this world and Emma sulked a little on their way to the diner because Regina had stopped her from punching him in the face.<p>

Lunch was somewhat more interesting, at least.

David and Mary-Margaret arrived at the diner not long after they sat down and they accepted Regina's invitation to join them. Mary seemed to know more about Emma than she could have learned from David, and Emma was apparently the only one who found it strange. It wasn't until they were leaving that Regina suggested the curse might be trying to compensate for her arrival in town by providing the residents with memories of her.

Emma had accepted the theory, and the matter was dropped for a time.

While they waited for Henry's school to let out, Regina showed her around town starting at the park where they ran into Archie and Pongo. Emma was thoroughly amused by the dog, as he continuously roped her wife into playing a game of fetch while she tried to converse with his owner. Eventually Regina gave up trying to talk and focused on the dog, while Emma spoke to the cricket-turned-psychiatrist instead.

She hadn't known him all that well back in their old world, and she was surprised to learn Regina visited with him once a week. "I started suffering from depression," she explained when they were alone again. Emma nodded but kept silent. "For some reason the curse had instilled memories within everyone regarding my love of children and it was him who suggested I adopt."

"I'm glad he did that," she murmured when Regina said nothing further. "That you found some happiness."

Emma knew there were worse reasons to have a child, like using them as meal tickets, as was the case when it came to a majority of the foster parents she'd had. She shook her head and reminded herself that most of the memories she had weren't real. She never had foster parents. She had real parents. Her father died in the war and her mother—she had looked after her and David until she passed some years ago.

_Decades_, she corrected. It had been decades ago.

She grimaced.

"Something you'd like to share?"

Squeezing the hand in her own, Emma smiled faintly. "I'm having a little difficulty separating fiction from reality. There are a lot of memories that don't… make sense, I guess." She paused. "It's not important."

Regina forced them to a stop and turned to face her. "If it's bothering you then it's important," she said. "You can talk to me, if you think it might help."

"I honestly don't know what will help," Emma confessed. "I keep remembering things; siblings I never had, growing up on the street after I ran away from one home at fifteen. The life this world's Emma had was awful and what's worse is that there are… blanks I can't fill in."

"What do you mean?"

"Well you said it's been twenty years, right?" Regina nodded and Emma explained, "Twelve years ago this Emma was in Phoenix celebrating her twenty-second birthday—I proposed to you when I was twenty three."

Retreating a step, Regina tilted her head and smirked. "Now that you mention it, you certainly don't look to be in your forties."

"Because I'm not," Emma sighed. "As far as my memories are concerned, I'm only thirty-four. I'm missing ten years of my life, Regina."

"Why didn't you say anything earlier? You could have asked Rumple about it."

Emma laughed. "What makes you think he'd tell the truth if I had asked? For all we know this is another part of his plan and he doesn't _want _me to remember."

"Fair point," Regina conceded, jaw clenching in anger at the thought. "I still think you should ask next time we see him. You'll at least know if he's lying, you've always been able to tell when someone does."

"I'll think about it," she replied. She knew by the narrowing of her eyes that Regina wanted to say something more but her lips remained pursed in restraint, and after a moment of silence, brunette locks shook before Regina turned and started them moving.

Their second destination was the docks, where Emma was hit with a brief sense of déjà vu. It wasn't a feeling she understood and one she chalked up to being something she probably remembered that hadn't been real.

Regina had noticed the pause in her step, but kept the observation to herself. Emma never had been one who liked to share, preferring to act as though nothing were capable of fazing her because she thought it made her appear strong. It was perhaps the one thing about her that Regina absolutely _loathed_ with every fibre of her being. Not that she ever said anything, as her own stubbornness could rival the blonde's and she didn't want it known that she was a hypocrite.

Feigning ignorance was a skill she picked up after months of trying to persuade Emma to talk about herself during the first year of their relationship. After one fight too many, she had simply given up trying and learned a week later that waiting was the best course of action.

Well, best course of action wasn't entirely accurate as it generally involved Emma blowing up over the smallest incident but Regina liked to deal in silver linings rather than technicalities. If yelling resulted in Emma talking to her, then she suffered the inconvenience willingly. It was at least preferable to being given the cold shoulder when she tried to order her to speak.

"This is nice."

Emerging from her thoughts, Regina smiled as she turned her head. They had left the docks and were walking along the beach, a slight breeze ruffling golden curls and the smell of the ocean in the air. Emma looked radiant and Regina's heart swelled in her chest.

"Come on," she murmured upon realising she was staring, weaving their arms together and leading Emma back to the car. "Our son doesn't like to be kept waiting."

"Sounds familiar," Emma responded, grinning.

* * *

><p>Regina froze as she turned after exiting the car. As luck would have it, it wasn't Henry who awaited them at the gate. Caught up in the happiness she'd had from having Emma with her again, she'd forgotten all about <em>him<em>. Her mood shifted from anticipation of seeing her son and the night the three of them would have, to dread of Emma learning who the man was.

Emma was possessive. She was loving, caring, protective and thoroughly selfless, but possessive. It was a trait that had drawn the Evil Queen to her in the first place, as well as the ruthlessness she displayed in battle. Such traits, however, were extremely out of place in this world and she could not only imagine the kind of damage Emma could do to the Deputy, she could picture it vividly in her mind.

When Emma passed the hood of the car, Regina darted forward and snatched her by the hand, yanking her back.

"What…"

Emma pulled free and spun on her heel, eyebrow raised in question as Regina swallowed, searching her brain for the words to explain. We went on a date, she thought, once—before she realised Emma would forever be on her mind and she ended whatever was between them despite fate claiming they were a perfect match.

She huffed. Saying _that _would have Emma tearing across the road, and then tearing his head from his shoulders. She shook her head.

"That man," she said, nodding in the direction of Robin Hood. Emma glanced over her shoulder.

"What of him?"

Regina stared, hoping the next words from her wife's mouth weren't threats of gory violence. She fisted Emma's collar and tugged her forward, claiming said mouth in a kiss she prayed reaffirmed all she felt—the love, the adoration and appreciation she had now that her Knight was back where she belonged.

When she released her, Emma blinked, breathing through her nose and swaying in place before she stabilised herself with a hand against the driver side door of the Mercedes. "Um," she started. "Not that I'm complaining but—"

"We dated," Regina blurted the interruption, not giving Emma a second to catch up as she hurried to explain. "It was only once because I never thought I'd see you again, but I ended it long before you came back and… he keeps trying to woo me but I've turned him down every time since."

Running out of steam and lacking anything more than words to convince Emma she was telling the truth, she fell silent, her gaze pleading for understanding from the blonde who merely stared back at her with a blank expression.

"I'm sorry," she added after another moment, looking down at her feet as she pulled her lower lip between teeth. She may not have slept with him and given birth nine months later, but unlike Emma, she'd still had her memories when she allowed him to wine and dine her—when she let him _kiss _her that night on her doorstep.

She was snapped from her self-induced guilt when Emma finally spoke.

"Okay," she said quietly, lifting Regina's head up with a finger beneath her chin. "What do you want me to do here?"

Regina frowned and asked, "You're not upset?"

"A little," she admitted. "More jealous that he got to take you on a date before I did, though."

With a disbelieving chuckle, Regina replied, "We're married, dear."

"Well yes." Emma grinned, shrugging as she reasoned, "Dating wasn't a thing in our world though—unless you count all those times you sat at my side while I bathed."

Matching her grin with one of her own, a perfectly sculpted eyebrow rose in challenge as Regina said, "Well you _were _removing the blood of my enemies."

"True," she agreed, shaking her head at the amused gleam in chestnut eyes. "Who needs fancy restaurants and romantic gestures when you have me?"

"Indeed."

Catching sight of their son among the crowd of children making their way to the gate, Regina grasped Emma's hand, glancing both ways down the street before she crossed to meet him. She stopped beside Robin and inclined her head in greeting, watching as his eyes travelled to the blonde and his smile faltered around the edges.

Emma ignored him entirely, pressing a kiss to the back of her hand before she released Regina and walked over to their son, crouching down as he immediately began talking and shoving bits of paper at her. She couldn't stop herself from smiling as Emma's chuckle reached her ears, not that she wanted—or even tried to.

"Do you ever wander what life would have been like if she hadn't recovered?"

Opening her mouth to respond, Regina's jaw snapped shut before she could speak as her mind was assaulted with images.

_Regina clasped a hand over her mouth, stifling the sob in the back of her throat as she watched the EMTs attempt to resuscitate her wife. Blood, there was so much blood. Her body shook with the effort to hold back her scream and she inhaled sharply as she felt a hand on her forearm._

_"I can drive you," Robin offered and she blinked, eyes widening as she realised Emma was being moved to the ambulance. She tore from his hand and stumbled forward, demanding she be allowed to accompany them to the hospital. Both of the men hesitated but nodded their heads when she scowled._

Regina gasped, feeling the tears sliding down her cheeks as she was thrown into another memory.

_Emma had been shot twice, once in the stomach while the second one had barely missed her heart. After surgery, she'd slipped into a coma that none of the doctors could explain and months passed in a haze before she received the phone call from Doctor Whale, telling her that her wife was awake._

_Three months prior, Regina had found out who was responsible and delighted in crushing his heart in the palm of her hand. It had been Graham, their former Sheriff. Emma was a deputy at the time and she'd caught him ransacking Regina's vault when she tried to bring him in. He'd shot her for it. _

_Robin had pieced it all together._

_Emma was the Sheriff now._

"What the fuck did you do?"

"Nothing!" Robin sputtered, stumbling back as Emma advanced on him. "I asked her a question that was it, I swear," he explained as she grabbed him by the shirt and raised her fist.

"Emma," Regina called and the blonde paused, her grip loosening enough for Robin to free himself as she glanced over her shoulder. "It wasn't his fault." She looked to Henry who stood with his mouth agape as she added, "and you're scaring our son."

Her anger deflated faster than Regina had ever seen, and if she weren't concerned by the obvious disappointment in herself that she could see in Emma's eyes, it would have been at least a little humorous. Emma had often struggled with the emotion; it was something the two of them shared from the very start and something they had even bonded over.

She recalled the days where Emma would rant and rave about this and that after sneaking up to the tower to speak to her, when the Knight wasn't off fighting one battle or another in the name of Snow White. She had fought for Leopold first, a soldier of the King's army who sided with Snow when Regina took control of the Kingdom. She was the reason David found his True Love when she introduced the two and somehow convinced their mother to harbour the former Princess.

Emma had also been the one who captured the Evil Queen, locking her in the tallest tower of the White Kingdom to keep her out of the way while they fought King George. Throughout it all, Regina had learned much about the blonde and had started to teach her of the magic she possessed but couldn't control.

After eight months of captivity, in which prisoner and jailer had developed an odd sort of friendship, Emma appeared one night with the head of King George—a truce, she explained. It was no secret that Regina despised the man and in exchange for her promise to no longer attempt taking Snow White's life, Emma swore to become her Champion.

Over the period of two years, Emma became the most meaningful person in her life. Regina was still the Evil Queen, still unnecessarily cruel but Emma had accepted her. She followed her commands without question—she made the Evil Queen fall in love when she had thought love would continue to elude her.

She softened her.

Anger was a strong theme throughout most of their relationship and not once, in the six years of knowing one another had Emma ever let go as fast as she had at the mention of scaring their son.

Moving until she stood before her, Regina cupped Emma's face in the palm of her hands and placed a tender kiss against her lips. "I will explain what happened later," she promised. "But thank you."

Emma gave an uncertain smile but when she nodded, Regina dismissed the desire to continue reassuring her and turned to Robin. "I suggest forgetting such thoughts because next time, you won't have the benefit of my interference."

His throat bobbed and he bowed his head with a murmured, "Of course, Madam Mayor."

Slipping her middle finger beneath the waistband of Emma's jeans, she placed a hand to the back of Henry's head and nudged him forward, tugging the blonde along behind them as they passed the deputy without further comment.

* * *

><p>Elbow on the counter and with chin in hand, Emma watched as Regina flittered about the kitchen. Last night, with all the excitement that distracted them, Regina had lost track of time and had resigned herself to takeout being the first meal the three of them shared. Tonight, however, she insisted on a home cooked meal and while Emma wasn't particularly picky about the things she ate, she was more than content to go along with it.<p>

She doubted their reasoning was at all similar but if the smile he wore was any indication, Henry seemed to agree with the thought as he busied himself with homework while listening to his brunette mother hum to herself.

The domesticity of it all made Emma grin stupidly, more so because when Regina noticed her happy expression, she blind-sided Emma with a kiss that had the three of them laughing when Henry looked up with his exclamation of, "Gross," and his mothers decided he must feel left out as they proceeded to smother him.

That ended more than ten minutes ago, yet Emma's grin remained. Watching Regina cook reminded her of all the times they snuck through the halls of the Palace at night when the servants had retired, descending on the kitchens to gorge themselves because a Queen and her Consort were expected to keep up appearances even while dining and often barely touched the meals served to them.

A lot of her bad habits had rubbed off on Regina—the humming, for instance. Emma used to do it all the time, mostly because she knew it drove her crazy and often resulted in clothes being torn off just so she would stop and _focus on being less annoying_, as Regina often said.

Regina's head whipped around as Emma chuckled and their eyes met. "Remember our first ball?" she asked, grin turning impish as cheeks reddened visibly.

It was the first time she learned just how infuriating the Queen thought humming to be and when she'd caught on to the reason she'd been shoved through the nearest door out of sight of the guests, she had thoroughly abused the knowledge.

"Distinctly," was the quiet, vaguely husked admission that caused another chuckle. Regina tilted her head, giving Emma a look that said _behave_ before she returned her attention to the pots on the stove.

When dinner was served, the three sat at the dining table with Henry talking a mile a minute. Both Emma and Regina indulged him, asking him about his day, teasing him when he mentioned one of the girl's in his class. It was all perfectly quaint, which Emma found odd without the involvement of her sister-in-law.

It felt good, spending time together without any immediate concerns hanging over their heads, and especially without all the pomp that came from being a royal. Had someone tried to tell her she'd be sitting around, stress free and sharing a quiet night in with her ten-year old son and her wife all those years ago, she would have laughed in their face.

The Black Knight didn't do quiet, nor did the Evil Queen and the thought of children had been nothing more than a passing thing, talked about in their chamber as Regina fell asleep in her arms, forgotten the next morning when duty called. Their days were filled with routine, interspersed every now and then with grand balls where pompous noblemen and women acted more important than they were while Regina pretended to care about them.

Fighting preoccupied Emma most of the time. After dealing with George, the truce signing between Regina and Snow, and the minor inconsequential uprising of the peasants once they'd discovered Snow had released the Evil Queen—well, life slowed down for her but not nearly enough for a moment like this.

When they were done, Emma rose to clear the table and gestured for Regina to sit back down as she sauntered off to the kitchen, returning in time to overhear Henry confront his mother. "Hey Mom?"

"Yes dear?" Regina smiled, noticing Emma hovering in the doorway before she turned to him with a curious expression.

He sucked his lower lip thoughtfully, hesitant and unsure. "Now that Emma is here," he began. "Does this mean you'll break the curse and we'll go back to the Enchanted Forest where I can learn to use a sword and ride horses?"

Looking to the blonde, Regina could see by the way Emma was biting her lip that she was trying not to laugh and she knew that she wasn't about to be offered assistance. She cleared her throat, buying herself a little time to think it over.

Having read his letter, she should have known something like this would surface. Truthfully, she _had _known, she just didn't expect it to come quite so soon though she knew she would have to tell him before Rumple completed whatever he needed to, to bring magic into the world.

Eventually, she settled for asking a question of her own. "Is that what you want?"

He nodded, no longer cautious with his words as he replied, "I'd be a Prince! You could teach me magic and Emma could show me how to fight; it'd be cool."

"It would be a lot of hard work," she warned, grinning at his enthusiasm but all too aware of the simplistic views of children. "You'd need to learn the history, proper etiquette and if you really want to learn magic, it involves _a lot _of reading."

"I like reading."

Joining them back at the table, Emma smirked as she leaned back in her chair. "You'd have a strict schedule— magic, swordplay, riding; it's not as fun as you might think."

His expression changed, from childish enthusiasm to serious determination and this time, Emma didn't bother to hold in the laugh. He reminded her so much of Regina in that moment.

"I can do it," he told them and Emma and Regina glanced to one another, amused but proud. Emma inclined her head encouragingly as she noted the question in dark eyes and Regina sighed softly.

"Very well," she said. "If my little Prince wants the curse broken, then he shall have it."


	4. Chapter 4

**Author Note: **Seemed a lot of you liked the past stuff and I'm such an accommodating bastard.

* * *

><p><em>Emma woke to the sound of pouring rain and smiled, rolling on to her side and pulling the furs wrapped about her body tighter as she registered the chill in the air from the open window. For once, she had nowhere to be; there were no battles to be fought, no nobles to please and no intrusive sister-in-law to come barging in to her room demanding one thing or another.<em>

_Burrowing deeper into her feather pallet, she released a content sigh and closed her eyes. As a soldier in the King's Guard, sleep had been a luxury since she enlisted and if ever there were a time to catch up; this was it. _

_Her throat vibrated with a hum, the scent and sound of the rain lulling her back to a dreamless sleep._

_"Emma?"_

Knew that was too good to be true_, she thought as she cracked an eye open. Across the room, a face glowed in the ornate mirror above her scribe table and she sighed. She supposed she should be grateful he had stopped calling her Lady Swan. "What does she want now?"_

_His lips twitched, amusement clear as day on his face before he cleared his throat and his expression changed to something bordering serious. "She has requested your attendance at court," he informed, smirking when she scowled._

_If she despised one thing above all else, it was standing still for an unspecified amount of time while ungrateful peasants endlessly complained—and the Queen damn well knew it. Some days she longed for the simplicity of the farm where she could stay in bed until noon, the aroma of her mother's cooking filling the house while her brother mucked around outside taking care of the animals._

_Both eyes open, she sat up and rubbed a hand over her face as she yawned. Maybe she would get to kill someone today, shine that Evil Queen reputation up a bit since her imprisonment. "How do you think she'd take me telling her to shove it and going back to sleep?"_

_"I imagine she'd be delighted," he replied casually. "It's been a while since she last tortured anyone."_

_Emma sighed. "Fine," she conceded, throwing off the furs and standing from the bed with a look to the window. "Tell her royal pain in the ass I'm on my way."_

_He inclined his head and disappeared the second she finished speaking, leaving her to mutter her curses in peace as she dressed. She skipped the plate armour the Queen had 'gifted' her with, settling for the leather jerkin she favoured and grabbing her sword from where it rested against the wall before she too disappeared._

_Reappearing behind the Queen who sat upon her throne, she smirked when the man who'd been speaking stopped suddenly, a sound of surprise stuck in his throat as he gaped._

_"Champion," Regina greeted without so much as a glance in her direction. "I need you to settle a dispute for me."_

_"Yay me," Emma muttered low enough so that only the Queen heard as she stepped forward and raised her voice. "Let me guess, he lost some of his treasured sheep to the floods and expects the Crown to compensate his loss."_

_"Well I know who not to call on when I need a seer," Regina declared, tongue clucking against the roof of her mouth in disappointment. Emma rolled her eyes. "He's a Hunter, not a Farmer; and he was caught poaching but claims he was unaware of my laws regarding the forest's creatures."_

_With a grimace, Emma drew her sword and descended the stairs of the dais to stand before the man knelt upon the floor. "I'd advise you learn the laws of the land before plying your trade but it appears I'm too late for that," she said and with the quick stroke of her sword, his head toppled to the floor._

_As the room filled with sounds of outrage, Emma summoned a cloth to her hand and wiped down the blade before she returned it to its sheath at her hip. _

_Turning as the cloth vanished into the ether; she calmly climbed the stairs and resumed her place at the Queen's side._

_"Perhaps I was wrong about you," Regina commented, gesturing for two of the guard to remove the man's body as the servants appeared to clean up the mess and she turned her attention to the crowd. "Court dismissed."_

_"I swore fealty to you," Emma responded, voice purposely blank despite her annoyance. "I'm a soldier through and through, and my loyalty is unquestionable; the only thing these tests prove is that you need a hobby."_

_"Careful," Regina warned, brushing the creases from the skirts of her dress as she stood. "You're overstepping, Champion; I would hate to have to punish you."_

_Emma smirked and leaned forward, close enough to murmur in her ear. "Had I not sworn fealty, we both know you wouldn't have that pleasure either," she reminded, releasing a chuckle as the Queen jerked, turning just as Emma departed in a cloud of smoke. _

"What did she do?"

Emma blinked, pulled back to the present by the inquisitive voice of her son. Regina looked to her in that moment, but her gaze was fixed on the little boy peering up at his brunette mother from beneath the black and yellow duvet.

"I did what was expected," she answered and turned to her Queen, all the conviction she could muster in her voice as she added, "And should she ever command me to do so again, I would without question."

He frowned. "Shouldn't you be equals? Aren't you married?"

One of Regina's eyebrows rose and Emma laughed, the question catching them both off guard. In most cases, it would be true but in hers, Consort was nothing more than a title that appeased the nobles of their time. She had married for love, nothing more and though in some regards she _was _equal to Regina, she would always be a Knight first and foremost.

"We are," she confirmed, smiling as she felt a warm hand sliding into her own. "The thing you need to understand is that I was a soldier, I knew nothing else and I had never wanted more for myself; following orders was what I did. I married your mother because I fell in love with her, not because I wanted special treatment. The only difference between me and any other of her Knights is that she fell in love with me back."

When Henry glanced to her side and grinned, Emma couldn't resist turning her head. Her lips quirked with a grin of their own at the sight of the pleased smile Regina wore, chestnut eyes shining bright with unabashed happiness and she darted forward, bestowing plump lips with a brief kiss.

Before either registered movement, an arm wrapped around each of their shoulders as Henry launched himself between them in an impromptu hug and Regina seemed to light up further, returning the embrace without hesitation.

Emma on the other hand, froze before gingerly placing a hand on his back. Moments like this were rare for her. For the longest time, her mother and brother had been the only people she allowed to touch her beyond a firm handshake in greeting, or a congratulatory pat on the back from one soldier to another when a battle went in their favour.

It was…

Nice?

_Enough of this weirdness_, she mused quietly. "Love of my life," she murmured softly, meeting the adoring gaze of her wife over the head of their son. "Tell him how we met—officially."

Regina smirked, shaking her head as they coaxed Henry into lying back down before she started to tell him of the Evil Queen whose revenge fell short when compared to the stubborn, quick wit of her favourite blonde nuisance.

* * *

><p><em> "Majesty, the reports from the east are… unusual," a voice said. Lionel, Regina noted the man's name absently as she looked up from her wine and gestured for him to continue. "There are rumours of a woman who fights at the side of the King, who wields magic and weapon with equal mastery. It is said that King George has wasted countless lives in an attempt to rid them of this woman."<em>

_Regina sighed and silenced him with a wave of her hand. Her men had spoken of the woman at night, when their whispered complaints were thought to be safe from her ears. This woman had been a thorn in her side long since before the war began, and she was beginning to realise, perhaps a little too late, that she was destined to forever lose to this unknown._

_Something in her gut told her she knew who it was, a niggling memory in the back of her mind that had eluded her all this time._

_Stretching her neck, she stood and glanced around at those gathered. Useless, every single one of them. Her fingers flexed at her side, anger simmering as always beneath the surface just waiting for its chance. "Send the Heartless," she ordered. "And bring me Snow White's head before I decide to take all of yours instead."_

"Wait," Henry interrupted, his voice laden with sleep. "I thought Snow White was your friend?"

Regina smiled indulgently down at him, smoothing a hand through his hair as she explained, "Our friendship came at a price I had yet paid, but that is a story for another time."

He nodded. "When did you meet ma?"

"That very same night," she replied, smirking as Emma's chuckle sounded and she leaned in to the warmth pressing against her side. "Soon, my Prince."

_Torches flared in front of her as those behind darkened with her passing. Regina stalked through the palace, a predatory gleam in her eyes that warned those in her service against approaching her. She half-hoped one would, merely so she would have the pleasure of feeling their life fade beneath the iron grip of her hand._

_Turning the corner that would lead to her chambers, a small flutter of relief made itself known in the pit of her stomach and her back released a small knot of tension as she noted the empty hall stretched before her. For all her anger and the darkness of her thoughts, all she had wanted was the comfort of her bed despite knowing the nightmares that awaited her in sleep._

_The doors to her chambers flew open with the simple flick of her wrist and she relaxed further, the thud of them closing behind her providing a sense of safety and a promise of time to be alone without the reminder of her constant failure reflected in the eyes she surrounded herself with._

_"Took you long enough."_

_Startled, Regina tried to summon a fireball to her fingertips and only then did she realise she was frozen from the shoulders down. She turned her head, rage replacing the surprise as she caught sight of the woman leaning against the wall._

_There were… flashes—of blonde curls and sparkling emerald eyes, of a bright smile and a light laugh. Faced with the woman who had caused so much trouble for her men and for herself, Regina remembered the first time her plan to off Snow White had backfired._

_"You," she sneered, not a single doubt in her mind of who this person was. Snapping her fingers, she dispelled the magic encasing her and raised her hand._

_"You don't want to do that," the blonde warned, straightening from the wall._

_"Oh I assure you," Regina said. "I most certainly do." She released the magic that had built in her fists, palms facing forward as a blast of wind swept forward and slammed the blonde back against the wall with a sickening crack._

_A choked laugh and flash of teeth was all the warning she had before the blonde lunged, her weight sending Regina to the floor with relative ease. She seethed, anger surging and lashing out. Her first attack was true, the gasp beside her ear proof of that and she readied herself to strike again, ignoring the pinch of her wrist as she rolled out from under the blonde and stood._

_"I will destroy you if it is—" She paused, no longer feeling the tingle at the tips of fingers and she glanced down, expression contorting in a mix of surprise, confusion and unmistakable anger. _

_Her hand reached for the leather cuff and she pulled, growling when all her effort and strength proved worthless in removing it from her wrist. She snarled, "What did you do to me?"_

_"I bound your magic," the blonde explained, rising to her feet with a pained grunt. "I warned you, I didn't want to do that; I only wanted to talk."_

_"Perhaps you should have thought about that before you ambushed me in my chamber," Regina spat and lurched forward, a proud sneer on her lips, relishing the widening of eyes as she grabbed the woman by her throat and spun, slamming her back into the wall. _

_The struggle she yearned for, however, was short-lived. The body relaxed under her hand and those eyes stared, resignation swirling within. So caught up in studying the surrender, she failed to heed the prickling of hair on the back of her neck and found herself suddenly launched back._

_Bracing for impact, she berated herself for forgetting the blonde had magic of her own. Motion stopped and she felt the softness beneath her, confusion returning once more as she looked down and realised the woman had prevented her injury and placed her on the settee._

_Sensing movement, she raised her head and watched as the blonde took the seat across from her. "I didn't come here to hurt you," she informed the Queen, seemingly unperturbed by her glare as she continued. "You have a vendetta against Snow White and thought this war between her and George was an opportunity too good to pass up but the way I see it, you're losing and while I'm around, that isn't going to change."_

_ "Then I suppose killing you is at the top of my priority list," Regina sneered and the blonde smiled, fuelling her anger. "If you expect to negotiate with me for that wretch's life, you're wasting your time."_

_"Truly?" Regina simply continued to glare in response and the woman sighed. "Then I suppose you leave me no choice," she said, standing and moving faster than should be possible. _

_"For crimes against her Majesty, Queen Snow; I, Emma Swan, Champion to King David am placing you, Queen Regina under arrest," Emma announced._

_Regina almost laughed but in a swirl of smoke, she was banished from her chambers and instead of those piercing emerald eyes, her glare settled on the iron bars of her new prison cell._

Ending the tale, Regina smiled down at the image before her. Emma had lain down sometime during the story next to their son, who had taken advantage of the new position and draped himself across his other mother. Her heart swelled with affection for the two loves in her life, a moment of pure happiness embracing her from head to toe in body tingling warmth, drowning those less desirable emotions in a sea of simple adoration she wished she could hold on to forever.

Unfortunately, life rarely coincided with her plans and as she felt the muscles in her legs stiffen from their folded position, she slowly forced herself to stand and rouse Emma from sleep. The blonde mumbled, her words unintelligible but the typical response caused Regina to give an amused chuckle.

The sound, of course, proved far more successful in waking Emma and Regina smiled down at her, leaning down and placing hands on either side of Emma's head as she pressed their lips together. She pulled back with a sigh after a few seconds, and grinned when Emma stared up at her from beneath hooded lids, mouth drawn into a pout.

"Stop that," she chided quietly, but continued to smile. "I'm going to bed, so if you'd like to join me you may wish to do something about that sudden growth you have," she said, head inclined toward the smaller body on top of her.

Emma frowned and looked down, and Regina shook her head upon realising the blonde hadn't been alert enough to notice. "Idiot," she murmured teasingly, hand curling around a shoulder and gently easing Henry onto his back as Emma sat up.

* * *

><p>The next morning, Emma woke with a comforting weight pressing her down into the mattress and she opened her eyes. She spotted the sheet Regina had draped across them during the night pooled down by their waists and she grinned, running her hands along the smooth, olive back left bared with the loss. It was, she conceded, a bright start to what promised to be a long, dull day doing a job she had absolutely zero interest in doing.<p>

A mouth nuzzled the crook of her neck and a soft murmur of protest reminded her of the current situation, and the fact her hands had stilled. She wrinkled her nose, a final, silent objection to her new status of employment as she resumed her caresses and waited.

Most days, Regina awakened a lot slower than she did and she was glad that hadn't changed. Of course, the things that kept them apart, that made these quiet moments in the morning so special in their old world likely wouldn't factor into their time but that didn't mean she couldn't still appreciate them just the same.

"You still do that," Regina complained. Emma tilted her head, eyebrow raised. "_Thinking_," she elaborated grumpily. "You just woke up, what could possibly distract you this much?"

Without a second's consideration, Emma allowed her eyes to travel slowly down their entwined bodies before her gaze returned to chestnut orbs and her eyebrow rose once more. In a rare display, Regina's cheeks flushed adorably and Emma grinned, wrapping her arms and legs about the brunette in case she had the thought to try and escape.

Regina wriggled but only a little, enough to bring their mouths together, to steal Emma's ability to think at all for a time as she gave in to those wonderful lips and the feelings Regina invoked effortlessly with her kisses.

"Oh!" Emma forced them apart prematurely, and then noticed the glare she received as she smiled apologetically. "Sorry, I just remembered I need to quit my job."

Deciphering the somewhat confused and exasperated look correctly, she explained, "Not Sheriff—though I'm not overly fond with that decision—I had a job in Boston that I kept in case… well, for obvious reasons."

"And this was more important than kissing because…?"

Emma chuckled, lifting her head to peck pouted lips before she dropped back to the pillow. "There is nothing in the world more important than your kisses," she confessed. "But I should probably do something about that before someone takes an interest in my sudden disappearance—also the lease..."

She trailed off as Regina continued to stare in exasperation, the confusion within the expression having morphed into frustration by that point and she pursed her lips, acknowledging the unspoken command to shut up before Regina questioned, "Do you suppose these things can wait until _after _I've had an orgasm?"

"Uh…" Emma mentally smacked herself over the head and flashed a lopsided grin as she released her hold on the brunette and suggested, "Shower?"

Regina smirked. "Shower," she repeated, lowering her head to claim another kiss before she climbed from the bed and sauntered over to the bathroom.

Emma rolled her eyes with a murmured, "Idiot," to herself as her feet hit the floor and she followed obediently.


	5. Chapter 5

With a sharp intake of breath, Regina's eyes snapped open and she was met with darkness. Her head rolled to the side, a tear slipping down her cheek as she read the glaring red digits of her alarm before she released a shuddered sigh and returned her gaze to the ceiling. The new nightmares were going to take some getting used to.

She lay there for a few minutes, listening to the sound of the blonde's breathing next to her as images played like a movie reel inside her head. How many times had she watched Emma almost die in their land? Counting the assassination attempts, border skirmishes and constant attacks from ogres and the like—too many, she supposed.

This time wasn't all that different.

Instead of wounds from a sword or the less common threats of deadly poison, she was dealing with bullets, which were a far better sight than the former. There wasn't even that much blood, at least not now that she wasn't being blindsided by the false memories. She still hadn't given Emma the details of how the curse was including her, but the risk of being Sheriff was extremely minimal despite them. Really, the nightmares were more of an annoyance than actual concern but…

She stroked the arm across her stomach and turned into the warmth of her Knight, burying her head in the crook of a neck as the last of the images faded from her mind. She would have to tell Emma. It wouldn't do to have someone surprising the blonde the way Robin did her, nor would she be able to keep her nightmares hidden for long.

* * *

><p><em>"Is that ale?"<em>

_Emma grinned, setting a tankard down in front of the pirate as she sat across the table from him and sipped from her own. He clasped the tankard with his one good hand, downing the whole thing in one go before slamming it back down with a wink. "My second greatest weakness," he sighed wistfully._

_"There's a tramp over in the corner if you want the first," she commented, smirking when he pouted and feigned hurt. _Silly manwhore_, she mused quietly to herself._

_"You wound me, love," he said._

_"I could," she offered with an innocent flutter of lashes._

_He laughed, shaking his head. "I don't doubt that," he replied before he called to a passing serving wench, who refilled his tankard as his attention returned to her. "So…" he started. "This person you're searching for, what's his name?"_

_"Baelfire," she answered, tilting her head at the flash of recognition in his eyes. "You know him."_

_"Aye," he confirmed the statement. "I know him. Question is; how do you?"_

_She frowned. Truth was she didn't know him. Waking on the shore, all she remembered was a name along with feeling a strong urge to find the one it belonged to and no reason as to why. Her memories were vague, hazy as though she'd woken not too long ago from a drunken stupor._

_"I don't," she replied honestly, knowing it wouldn't do any good to lie if she expected anyone to help her. "Here's the thing, I'm having a hard time remembering much of anything aside from his name and I was hoping maybe he might be able to tell me why that is."_

_Brow furrowed in thought, he questioned, "You think he messed with your pretty little head?"_

_Did she think that, she wondered. She shook her head after a moment; the thought felt wrong for some reason. "No but I'm thinking someone has," she said, "and he might know who."_

_He nodded and drained his tankard once more before he spoke. "You do know you're asking after the son of the Dark One, aye?"_

Emma jolted awake, blinking hard as she tried to grasp the tendrils of her dream. She shifted, and then stilled as she realised she was being clung to as though she were a lifeline in the midst of a raging sea.

Regina?

Pulling her head back to see, her senses filled with familiarity and she frowned. She raised a hand and cupped the brunette's cheek, caressing the beautiful face contorted in pain as she leaned in, rousing her Queen from wherever her mind had taken her in sleep as she pressed kisses to skin while avoiding her lips.

Regina stirred, arm flexing against her back and then Emma felt the hand grab her hip. She smiled, kissing eyelids that fluttered open as she continued down and finally claimed her mouth, humming her pleasure when the response she received was far more than she expected and Regina urged her to roll on to her back.

Her stomach warmed as thighs clamped down on her sides and a tongue slipped into her mouth. _Just like old times_. She inwardly sighed in contentment and wrapped Regina in her arms, enjoying the closeness as long as she could before the brunette did the inevitable and forced them to start the day because, unlike old times, this was the Mayor of Storybrooke with a flawless routine and not the Queen who forced her subjects to plan their days around _her_.

It sucked when she was right but as Regina lay down and their bodies fit perfectly together, she realised that this time she was wrong, and it definitely did not suck in the least.

Fingers threaded through her hair and she moaned as they began a gentle massage of her scalp. She closed her eyes and a thigh fell between her own to rest against her sex as the kiss changed, becoming less intense now that Regina had found her comfort, no longer fueled by hunger but a playful desire to tease and indulge in her Knight.

Emma recognised the mood and accepted her role willingly, placing her hands in the small of Regina's back as she willed her body to relax, to allow the pleasure her wife wanted to bestow upon her. It didn't happen often, as Regina preferred a more equal approach to their lovemaking, but when it did Emma knew the general reasoning behind it and she made a mental note to inquire at a later time before she surrendered completely.

* * *

><p>Pushing her plate aside, Regina picked up her cup and sipped the lukewarm beverage within with a slight grimace. Her mind flickered toward home and the morning she'd had with her family before the three of them departed for work and school respectively, the thoughts bringing with them a brief wish that her Knight would appear.<p>

Regina chuckled softly with a bemused shake of her head. Twenty years was nowhere near enough time to adapt to sub-par coffee but Emma, oh Emma could do such magical things with a coffee machine.

_Should have made her a Barista, not the Sheriff, _she thought and grimaced again for a whole other reason. _Bastard curse. _If Rumplestiltskin didn't get a move on and enact whatever plan he had to bring magic back, she was going to march down to the pawnshop and throttle the imp with her bare hands. She might even call her wife beforehand so the blonde could watch.

Emma would love that, of which she had no doubt.

The bell above the door to the diner chimed and Regina looked up, smiling as David entered and flashed her one of his dopey grins that she had come to find oddly heart-warming—something she blamed Emma for, naturally. How she managed to love not one but three idiots was a conundrum she'd stopped trying to understand years ago.

She watched him stroll over to the counter and say a few words to Ruby before he turned, and she inclined her head in an offer that he accepted immediately as he walked over and slid in to the opposite side of her booth.

"Mayor Mills." Regina rolled her eyes, as was expected of her, and then fixed him with a blank stare to which he grinned before correcting himself. "Regina."

"Imbecile," she returned his greeting, her tone teasing.

"Your wife is so much nicer," he commented offhandedly, thanking Ruby as the waitress placed a plate in front of him and sauntered off. "Why do I put up with you again?"

"Perks of being the Mayor, I suppose." He raised an eyebrow and she smirked while explaining, "In public everyone is my friend, unless they want me to make their lives miserable."

He nodded in understanding, spearing a piece of bacon from his plate as he replied, "Makes sense, what with you being evil incarnate and all."

"Indeed," she agreed, shoulders shaking with silent laughter. _Oh how true that once was. _Seeing a brief flash of red outside from the corner of her eye, she looked over to the door as Emma sauntered into the diner, and smiled.

The blonde head glanced over in her direction and Emma turned mid-step toward the waitress, diverting course to where she sat. Regina barely had the time to see the glint in those eyes before Emma swooped down and placed a kiss on her lips, stealing the breath from her lungs with unnatural ease.

"Good afternoon, lover," Emma murmured when she straightened, feigning ignorance to the flush of olive cheeks as she turned and greeted David. "Ace Ventura," she said cheerfully and spun on her heel, leaving two very confused people at her back.

"That was odd," David commented, fork half-raised to his mouth before he paused. "Who's Ace Ventura?"

"Pet detective," Regina responded without pausing to think, eyes still firmly on her wife, who was chatting away with Ruby. _Odd indeed._

David cleared his throat and her eyes snapped back to him, frowning before she realised what she'd said. "It's a movie; I'll lend it to you sometime, you'll love it." _Because you and your sister are as moronic as Jim Carrey_, she added in her mind, her smile reappearing at the thought.

"Right," he grunted and resumed eating as her attention returned across the room, eyes drawn to the pleasant curve of the blonde's backside as she leaned on the counter.

"Sheriff," she called sweetly, voice airy as she rose from her booth. Emma looked to her over a shoulder, eyebrow raised and a knowing grin spread over her lips. Regina smirked. "My office, one hour—don't be late."

"Wouldn't dream of it, _Madam Mayor_," she responded cheekily.

From her mouth, Regina couldn't find a single fault with the title and rather than scowl, she winked and blew Emma a kiss, leaving behind the sound of rich laughter as she exited the diner with the image of flush, dimpled cheeks vivid in her mind.

* * *

><p>Emma sauntered into town hall, coffee in hand, thankful for the extended distraction from the mountain of paperwork she'd been saddled with. Robin was completely useless, his chicken scratch so ineligible that after the last report he'd handed to her, she kicked him out of the station and told him to go patrol while she rewrote the whole thing.<p>

How Regina had managed to tolerate him as a Deputy for so long would forever escape her understanding, not that she had bothered to broach the topic with her wife. She had a feeling that any mention of the man would result is some kind of unpleasantness she didn't want to deal with, a rare decision in which her intelligence shone through.

Regina's secretary gestured to the closed door of the Mayor's office with a dismissive, "She's expecting you, Sheriff," eyes glued to the screen of her computer. Emma snorted as she moved forward, glancing over her shoulder and seeing that the woman was playing Tetris of all things.

She entered the office and closed the door behind her, sauntering over and dropping into the seat in front of Regina who had yet to look up. "Very hardworking secretary you have there," she commented, humour in her voice.

Dark lips quirked. "Solitaire?" the brunette asked, scribbling something down. Emma chuckled; _of course_, nothing slipped passed Regina's notice.

"Tetris," she corrected, leaning back in the chair as she crossed her legs and sipped her coffee.

Silence settled on them, broken every so often by the scratch of pen or a sigh of some kind; annoyance, exasperation—typical Regina Mills sounds Emma could listen to all day, as long as they weren't directed at her. She wasn't in any rush to get back to the station, and Regina knew it.

After about ten minutes, Regina lowered her pen and rubbed the bridge of her nose. Emma leaned forward, offering up what remained of her coffee, knowing her wife needed it far more than she did.

"Thank you," Regina murmured, smiling as she accepted and took a large swallow. She then set the cup down, the words _tell her_ echoing in her head, and she sighed.

"You were shot," she said; blunt and too the point was always best with Emma. "The curse _is _adapting to your presence and as far as everyone is concerned, you've been in this town as long as the rest of us. According to everyone's memories—with the exception of my own—the former Sheriff shot you and fled the scene; he was found three months later in the forest, dead due to a heart attack."

"You don't share the same memory?"

Regina shook her head. "In mine, he _did _shoot you but it wasn't a heart attack that killed him." She paused, a wry grin forming plump lips as she corrected, "Well, not in the sense that everyone believes."

Emma smirked. "You went all Evil Queen on him, huh?"

As Regina pushed her chair back and came around her desk, Emma dropped the foot resting on her knee back to the floor and welcomed her wife into her lap, hands gently squeezing hips as she kissed her softly.

"I did." Foreheads touching, Regina closed her eyes and murmured, "I'm not sure what really happened to him. We had dinner together at the diner the night before you arrived."

"Who was he?"

Regina smiled, hearing the faint hint of jealousy in her wife's tone. "The Huntsman," she answered, a soft chuckle passing her lips as Emma huffed. "You're the only one for me."

In answer, Emma hummed knowingly and pressed another kiss to her lips before she pulled back with a frown. The Huntsman's loyalty to the Queen could almost rival her own, and she knew how much her wife valued him.

"We should find out what happened—people don't just disappear," she said. Her frown deepened when Regina laughed before she realised; hadn't she _just _disappeared for over two decades?

"You know what I mean," she chuckled and rolled her eyes.

Regina nodded, winding her arms about her wife's neck and smiling when Emma returned the embrace, sliding her hands from hips to back as their lips brushed. "We should get back to work," Regina whispered, actions belaying her words as she claimed another kiss.

Teeth nipped her lower lip and fingers dipped beneath the waistband of her skirt, barely touching the swells of her backside but content to stroke what flesh they could reach. She welcomed the warm, wet muscle that slipped into her mouth and sucked, drawing a delicious moan from somewhere deep inside the blonde's chest.

Her mind warred between what she should be doing and what she wanted to do even as she continued with the latter, encouraging the scraping of nails along her flesh when her hips jerked and a jolt tore up her spine as her sex collided with a hard stomach. "Emma," she groaned, forcing their mouths apart. "We need to stop."

Their eyes dropped simultaneously to Emma's lap where she continued to rock, her panties getting wetter by the second. She bit her lip and looked up, feeling her cheeks heat as an eyebrow rose, amusement dancing within an emerald gaze.

"You don't want to stop," Emma countered, freeing a hand from her waistband and placing it between her legs, caressing her inner thigh.

Shaking her head, Regina admitted, "No but I—" She gasped as fingers pressed into her and lace rubbed against her clit.

Emma smirked. "We're not stopping," she asserted, stilling the protest on the tip of Regina's tongue as she quickly pushed aside soaked material and stroked her slit.

Eyes slipping shut, Regina moaned. _No, definitely no stopping,_ she thought and allowed Emma to pull her forward, connecting their lips as a finger sheathed inside her wet, clenching heat. She whimpered, hips rolling as warmth gathered in the pit of her stomach and she swore, cursing the blonde's ability to derail her so thoroughly with next to no effort.

* * *

><p>When Emma returned to the station, two hours later than she should have, Robin was at his desk in conversation with Rumplestiltskin. Her lip curled in a grimace and, not wanting to be in the same room with her least favourite people, she ignored both of their gazes and went straight through to her office.<p>

She made decent progress on the remaining paperwork before there was a knock at her door and she looked up to see the smirking face of Rumplestiltskin, rolling her eyes as she gestured for him to enter. "What do you want?" she asked, looking back at the forms on her desk.

"Now is that any way to greet your son's grandfather?"

Head snapping back up, she blinked back her confusion and scowled. "What the hell are you talking about?"

His eyes narrowed and he stepped into the room, closing the door behind him before tapping his way over to her desk and glaring down at her. "My exact instructions were for you to find him, and bring him to me." He leaned in and growled, "Where is the father of your child, Miss Swan? Tell me where my son is!"

"Neal." Emma stopped, mind slowly clouding with the utterance of his name. Nausea pooled in her stomach and a throb developed behind her eye as she dropped her pen and rubbed her temple, shaking her head as she said, "His father's name was Neal and he was just some guy I met at a bar, a one-night stand nothing more."

Immediately, she knew something was wrong. Just like in her dream, deep down she knew it was a lie and she had no idea why. She shook her head again. "Why does that not feel right?" she looked up to find that he was staring at her, confusion and curiosity mingling within his gaze. "What did you do to me?"

He straightened and studied her a moment, searching for something before he took a step back and sighed. "I'm afraid, Miss Swan that whatever has been done to you, was not my doing."

And somehow, she knew he was telling the truth. "I can see now you don't have the answers I seek," he said and she wondered if she imagined the sympathy she detected in his tone. "Please inform your Queen that I need to speak with her."

With that last request, she watched, unable to form the words to stop him as he turned and left her office.


End file.
